5 VA Cities Named To 'America's Fittest City' List

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington County has been named “America’s Fittest City” for the eighth year in the annual American Fitness Index rankings published by the American College of Sports Medicine and the Elevance Health Foundation.

Five Virginia cities, plus Washington, D.C., were named to the national rankings.

ACSM and Elevance Health looked at more than 30 indicators for the 100 of America's largest cities to determine the Fitness Index results. This year's rankings show that 94 percent of the cities and their residents reported an increase in their overall aerobic activity levels.

The 10 fittest cities on America's Fittest City list are:

1. Arlington, Virginia
2. Washington, DC
3. Seattle, Washington
4. San Francisco, California
5. Denver, Colorado
6. Minneapolis, Minnesota
7. Madison, Wisconsin
8. Atlanta, Georgia
9. Sacramento, CA
10. San Diego, CA

The top three cities in the 2025 Fitness Index posted strong performances in distinctly different areas:

• Arlington ranked first with an overall score of 85.7 compared to the average score of 50.8 for all 100 cities in the index. It also posted the highest percentage of residents (76.4) who reported sleeping more than seven hours a day. Arlington also boasted the lowest number of residents who smoke — 3.3 percent — compared to an average of 10.5 percent for the all cities in the study. Arlington was also tops in the percentage of people who were in excellent or very good health (67.2 percent) as well as in terms of community enrichment (82.6 percent).
• Washington, D.C. residents ranked the best at eating their fruits and vegetables for the second year in a row. District residents also had access to the highest number of trail miles — 235.3 — on the list, with Irvine, California coming in second with 187.9 miles.
• Seattle residents had the third-highest personal health rank and was ranked ninth in community health and environmental impact.

Four other Virginia cities were named to the 2025 Fitness Index:

• Chesapeake earned the highest score among the 100 cities in percentage of residents who reported exercising in the previous month (76.9 percent), with 38.9 percent reporting that they were meeting aerobic and strength activity guidelines.
• Norfolk ranked 31st, making it the second-healthiest city in Virginia. In Norfolk, 30.9 percent of residents reported consuming more than two fruits a day and 59.4 percent said they were sleeping more than seven hours a day on average.
• Richmond ranked 40th with a personal health score of 41.7. In addition, 76.9 percent of Richmond residents reported exercising in the previous month and 40.2 percent were meeting aerobic and strength activity guidelines
• Virginia Beach ranked 79th on the index, with a personal health score of 32.9 and 74.9 percent of residents reporting they exercised in the previous month. The city also reported 67.6 percent of days with good air quality, which was higher than the index average of 47.8.

The full rankings and scores on the 2025 Fitness Index are available online.

“The Fitness Index has become a trusted and powerful tool to help us better understand and address the physical, behavioral and social drivers of health in communities, while providing the data and expertise that empower advocates and city officials to take action,” said Shantanu Agrawal, MD, chief health officer at Elevance Health.

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